ATLANTA 8 Washington 0 (ESPN Boxscore)

Matt Chico‘s second start of the season started well. He made it to 4th inning before giving up a run, an Andruw Jones homer (naturally, I think he has about 30 against the Nats since 2005) that put the Braves up 1-0. Trouble returned in the 5th when Ronnie Belliard dropped a fly ball near the right field line. Austin Kearns and Dimitri Young were nearby at the time. Kerns probably should have been the one attempting the catch, but I suspect memories of his collision with Nick Johnson played a factor there. Anyhow, that error led to three unearned runs by Atlanta and Chico’s ouster after 4 2/3 innings.

The offense continued to be a liability for the team last night. You can’t win if you can’t score. Atlanta pitcher Tim Hudson had a strong game, going seven innings and recording 7 Ks; 5 in the first two innings.

Nats Hit the Road — And Little Else – The Post

Offense absent for Nats in loss – The Wash. Times

In other news, Kory Casto is already riding the pine due to his struggles against MLB pitching. Ryan Church though has been decent (The Post) after having an “iffy” spring. Reliever Ray King left

By the way, USA Today reports the Nationals are playing .125 baseball right now, exactly twice as bad as the fabled ’62 Mets. Ouch.

Pitching prospect Adam Carr had to be told to get out of the batting cage during accelerated spring training. The Nats believe he is on the fast track to the majors (The Free Lance-Star), despite not being a pitcher during his college career. Carr loves to hit, but has reluctantly decided to pursue pitching. He has not given up a run coming out of the P-Nats bullpen this season.